The witch's descendent- the beginning
by NuttersAscend
Summary: Sawada Tsunayoshi takes over the position of god by basically harassing Checkerface into giving it to him, not that he thinks his actions are that. Now that he is the new Checkerface, he's ultimately the one who writes history of the world. After all, with great power comes great responsibility. Checkerface!Tsuna
1. The street rat

**Chapter 1**

**The street rat**

Kawahira saw a ragged little squirt with fluffy brown hair, he could describe it as if he was being nice, or a bird's nest if he was being frank. Auburn eyes followed his movements as he moved around his quaint little house that he called home. He supposed it was rather strange to see a place with an east-Asian motif, but he had gotten rather fond of its culture even though he was supposed to be neutral. He was currently in Europe for _business- _if he'd call it something else, he'd probably get hired hands targetting him.

The boy gawking at him looked like a street rat, but France wasn't doing so good at the moment. He looked like one and smelled like one, but he couldn't peg him down as one at the moment. The boy was malnourished and had long hair, no doubt unkempt and untamed and uncared for, making him look feminine. But he could very well send the lad a scowl to show that he wasn't welcome here; his unwarranted visit made the incenses he brought over here useless. He didn't know if his message was clear or not, but the lad dashed away.

The next day he was back again, this time with an actual dead street rat- no, he wasn't being metaphorical, it was a poisoned rat. Kawahira was beginning to suspect that the boy was a cat in disguise bringing tributes to make him accept the boy into his family. Then Kawahira would be promoted to its servant and poop collector. It wasn't a bad deal per se, but if he kept his silence the boy on his doorstep would stop interpreting his quietness as "There are not enough sacrifices."

Oh boy, the boy was emptying out his sleeves and rat after rat fell into the pile. He was mildly horrified and mildly intrigued as to how many rats were stored in the child's bosom. He had a bright future ahead of him as pest control. The robed man wondered if the demand for the profession would ever decrease in this era dubbed by the locals as 'The black plague'.

The brunette looked mighty proud of the rat stockpile, he practically beamed at him. When he saw that man in front of him looked stupefied, he gave him an exasperated gaze. The child then dashed off somewhere. Faced with the rodents in front of him, he wondered if the boy thought that he was the cat here and wanted to help the man survive or something. He shuddered at the prospect.

Luckily, the boy came back and this time with a canine. It better be that dead cat he saw on the road this morning. The boy didn't have any missing teeth either.

Then the child showed him how cavemen evolved, by taking a fat twig and lodging the tooth in it and thus making a knife. This was how mankind made their first tools, he was sure of it. The brunette then moved in front of the rats and took out a basket, which looked like it'd kick the bucket anytime soon, that was hung around his neck. Then he began impaling the rats and draining its blood out into the basket. Kawahira flinched at this display.

What was this madness?! Was the boy hostile towards him? Was this the warning 'get out of town, else that'd be you next?'?!

The boy then handed over the bloody basket, kicking the rats out of the porch. Why did he have to be the audience to the boy's show?! Times were changing fast and this old man could not keep up with the next generation.

What was he to do with this?!

The brunette then helped him out of this predicament, by simply pointing at him and uttering "Witch!" and then pointed at the rats and then the basket "Which?" He then shook his head at one and nodded his head at the other before finally tilting his head in question at the man- it seemed that he had a choice here...

The boy helpfully gave him the future of the rejected option, "Ditch.". How thoughtful of him... If he was to choose between a rock and a hard place, he accepted the blood basket. The boy smiled cheerfully and picked up the dead mice and scuttled off somewhere. Kawahira felt himself morbidly curious 'What's he gonna do with all those rats?'

He heard that in France, it was a delicacy to eat snails... Was it something like that? But wait, the boy called him a witch (before proceeding to rhyme all over the place.)... The Salem witch trial was rumoured and gossiped in the cities. Has it made its way to even these remote villages?

Kawahira did not use the basket and just left it in a desolate corner, but the next day, the boy was back and he thought he hadn't made himself clear. So he did a demonstration for the man, he dipped his finger in the stagnant, hardening blood and drew a circle. He then looked at the man imploringly and then he drew a star in it. If the guy who disguised himself as a physician here didn't get the clue, he might as well let the boy make this house a cult base.

"I'm not a witch, boy."

If the boy was more literate, he swore that the brunette would sass the man right then and there and say "And I'm Marie Antoinette. That's what all the witches say."

'How do I prove that I'm not a witch? What do witches even do?'

The boy who couldn't communicate with the physician proceeded to make his case. He pointed at the various medicine bottles, herbs and paste. He pointed at some of the herbs and feigned death, then he pointed at some of the pills and acted like he was as healthy as a cow.

'Well, it is true that poison was the flip side of medicine and the greatest doctor could be the greatest poison master.'

The brunette, to further make his point, took one of his hands and placed a live rat that looked petrified from fear (from the boy) while putting a dead rat in Kawahira's other hand. He even bowed down in front of him in reverence. The physician, on the other hand, looked mentally drained. He was not going to look at rats in the same way again.

"Just because I hold life and death in my hands, it doesn't mean I'm a witch.

...Do the villagers want to do something to me?"

The boy nodded, and looked at something inside, but hesitated. He sighed and waved casually at the boy to do as he like, make as many demonstrations as he liked. He moved bashfully to his lit candlestick, the one he used to read and write prescriptions, took the dead rat from his hand and lit it on fire. The one alive fled for its life. Kawahira never knew that the day would come when he would think that he should act like a mouse. Jeanne d'Arc's execution seemed to have inspired the villagers to think that this was how you kill a witch.

But, dear human; Even if you do that on your fellow species, they would still turn into ashes. At least it wasn't as ludicrous as how they thought you could kill a vampire (exposure to sunlight and eating garlic of all things...)

He didn't know if it was irony, but to think they'd try burning _him _to death. He was a literal manifestation of the purest flames. Were they thinking of killing fire with fire? This was like drenching a drowned man or in his case, giving a torch to an arsonist. The people here were testy and would volunteer to make a mountain out of a molehill. But, he needed to introduce the candidates of the next Arcobaleno to each other.

* * *

"Say... Would you help a friend in need?"

Kawahira would bet all his money that the boy's solution would involve rats.

It did, but not in a way that he'd like it to be. The boy had moved his rats to the physician's basement- because the brunette wanted to breed them like koi fish that he had collected from his old house- an abandoned sewer hole that reeked like hell. It was no wonder that he made acquaintances with those pests.

The physician didn't normally do this, but he used sun flames to accelerate their growth and development. He had an inkling of the street rat's plan but wanted to hasten it. His noose wasn't getting any looser. Soon, the village caught up in a rat infestation. Coupled with unhygienic environments, they were getting sick all 'round the place. His medicine was the only thing keeping them alive, making them change their tune. It was their life force after all.

Unfortunately, the villagers weren't idiots.

A week later, the man saw that the boy wasn't visiting him any longer. It was a curious thing since they had somewhat gotten into a routine together. It was almost like they were family. There was a commotion in the squire.

Two palace guards looked fiercely at a scrawny boy who was hung on a pyre.

The village chief spoke fiercely for justice.

"My fellow people. Let us send this damned witch to the hell hole she belongs to.

She hath borne a grudge and tried to reap our lives and our crops.

Her rats did her bidding, biting into our wheat and cheese.

They surrounded us, cutting off our escape. They encroached on our land, our lives, our food, our joy, our pride, our fortune.

Many a mother wept at night, with fear from never seeing her child again, once mornings crept upon us.

She made us fear the light as she bathed in its shadows.

She was bred in darkness and bred darkness amongst us. 'Tis was the darkest hours.

But we shan't fear for our lives. We will bathe her in light, baptize her sins, and eradicate us from our sufferings."

The burned his dead corpse and did not even bother to investigate. They did not seek the truth. They sought a life.

The boy was a street rat at the start, sought him for a witch, and became one in the end.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. A life for a life.

The village had gotten a catharsis -a moment of peace.

Kawahira had inadvertently burned him into dying. But, Kawahira could advertently burn him into living.


	2. The Apprentice

Khr ain't mine

ACasualPotato, I was in a pretty crabby mood and then I saw your comment and snickered enough to turn my mood a whole 180 haha. Don't worry, this story isn't going to be as depressing as some of my other ones (far from it, actually) ;)

I've given up on softening my blows, cause it seems like I've become morbid by nature. If that's changing any time soon, it'll change as the story goes on.  
At least, it's not any thing explicit :p. You gotta take what you get, I suppose.

Well, let's get back to it, shall we? Lemme know what you think bout the story and hope you enjoy reading it ^^

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**The Apprentice**

The brunette woke up to cinders and knowledge and experiences he had never heard off in his life. He glanced at the remains of the noose and christened himself Tsunayoshi to start the sails to a new life.

He decided to leave the village and forget his past since he'd have to fill in the pharmacist's footsteps. Kawahira had probably his own agendas in mind, but he didn't have to follow those, right?

He moved to a port city, intending on hitchhiking on a boat or a ship to travel to places and find this Arcobaleno that the man obsessed with. Tsunayoshi decided that the best way he could do that was by getting in a bar. There'd be drinks that can satiate his hunger, drunks that will chatter out information at the very least.

He heard a groan when he was inching in closer to a tavern. Merry cheers erupted from the place, but he moved in towards the alley on the side. There was a man whose hair looked like a lion's mane and wore gypsy clothing. The brunette moved in closer to the youth who was puking his guts and looked like he'd fit better in a confession booth. When he moved his hands towards the suffering soul, intending on rummaging through his baggy pants for wallets and loose change, he heard the man sniffle and sob. Then, he decided he would rob him blind after comforting him- so he petted the mane like he was petting an oversized feline.

The guy latched on to him and without any reservations, he poured out his woes.

"Missy, you're a kind soul, unlike Jill. She wanted the roses that those marines gifted their huns. You can't even eat those, what good are those?"

"You can eat them roses, but the price ain't worth it." but it seemed like his comments weren't even registering in the man's ears because he continued on.

"Ya know what flowers are? They're plant genitals- that posh kid told me. Wonder what's so romantic bout gifting a buncha plant hoohaas. Know what that earned me, a slap at the kisser.

There's no fun with those idiots. Those stuck-up pricks can't have a jolly good time if their neck's on the line. I was fine wit her gettin both flavours, thought the variety would make the tango interesting. Told her ta take a pistol and shoot the mistress if she wanted that man so much.

Ain't I a nice guy? But _she; _she stuffed them hoohaas right at me face and you know what she said?"

"What did she say?"

"She said that I better be grateful for having this much p*ssy, cos there ain't gonna be that many gals that'd throw themselves on me like that. _Right in _fronta_ me crew._ I got my game still, right miss?"

"I dunno 'bout that. You might if you win a game against her."

"We play lass, we play rough til the dead of tha night. Thing is, she don't wanna play no more." the grown man sobbed right into his shoulder. Frankly, his weight was crushing him. The brunette suggested, irritatedly.

"Maybe you can show her how to pull a fast one on that mistress. She could be angry because she didn't know how to pull off that idea? Make that into a game."

It seemed like the man got a light bulb moment and he dragged the boy along for the ride. He tottered around the streets singing songs that the brunette could recognize, and so the boy hummed along. Encouraged by that, the man sang loudly and out of tune.

The duo had an audience that didn't hesitate on lobbing them with tomatoes, which the brunette greatly appreciated. He got free food that was still edible (borderline). Some were throwing stale bread, and the others- rotten eggs. Tsuna knew what he'd be having for breakfast tomorrow.

The drunk man slammed into a street lamp, which he mistook for a solo spotlight. He shoved the brunette away, hogging all the light. The boy didn't care- he got snacks and a show to watch while munching away. He even clapped enthusiastically after each performance.

But the show must end. The man finally remembered his mission and walked on to the horizons. Tsuna had become his crutch since the other wasn't getting anywhere being as drunk as he was.

They finally reached their destination- a dingy apartment complex. The man holla'd at the shut door, while the brunette rapped at it. It finally gave away, revealing a sleepy, irritated woman who seemed like she hated the sun for waking her up to a new day. The man freed himself from the boy's support and grabbed her chin to whisper sweet nothings.

The brunette thought he'd overstayed his visit when the lovers went inside her house and tumbled onto the ground. The light from the room was the only thing that clued in on his plans and the other cheerfully said,

"Doll, I thought of playing a game with ya to help ya get over yer fear of guns."

He pulled out a revolver from his sash and released all of the ammo in there, and put back one of them inside the chambers.

"This game is a hella fun. Ma boys will vouch for it, I guarantee. Here, I'll show ya."

He took the gun and popped it in his mouth and made a shot. The brunette wondered what it tasted like, while the lady screamed in shock. The man shushed her and kissed her messily to calm her down. She looked back at him, drunk and hazy.

He placed the gun in her mouth and shot again. Her eyes grew wide like saucers, and he brought the gun back and sucked at its entrance, his eyes gleaming predatorily and his lips smirking with mirth. She looked partially entranced and partly terrified. The brunette made a move to leave if they were just going to make out using guns. But when he turned around and walked a step, he heard a bang instead of a blank and he swiveled around.

"Can you believe her? We were justtt getting to the good part and she decided to snooze. Sleeping like a log.

Che, that was no fun. C'mere lass, let me treat ya to a drink."

* * *

In the morning, the captain woke up bleary-eyed to see a scrawny boy chugging on a cup of rum. There were a whole bunch of empty mugs around the man and he possessively snatched the mug from the boy.

"That's my rum you're drinking there, lad. Cough up the rest."

"You're the one who said you'd give me a treat after getting bored of playing with Jill." It seemed like the man had no memories from the other night, so he thought he could bring up his Juliet to jog his memory.

"Who?"

No dice huh, well he was missy last night. He ain't missy right now, so he better skedaddle.

He looked at the bartender and said, "This guy's footing the bill." and walked casually towards the bar's doors. Captain there didn't appreciate it one bit and cocked his revolver at the boy and pressed the trigger- to hear a click. He pressed the trigger several times, but the gun would only fire blanks. Tsuna didn't play Russian Roulette with the captain, Jill did. Then he thought of something and swivelled back.

"Let me make it up to you, cap'. I'm sure we can strike a nice deal here. Let me on your ship and I can help ya out with grunt work. You just gotta leave me on the next stop."

"Strange that you'd be chickening right back to the guy you judged as having no fangs. Did the bounty posters spook you, kiddo?"

It was then, that the brunette looked at the wanted posters with his smug mug on it. The price was astounding, to say the least. No other could match up to it. It even seemed that his notoriety got the bartenders to quietly serve his drinks in the place plastered with his mugshots. The guy's got them intimidated enough.

"I don't think the bartenders would need liquid courage to holla over a cop, now that you've got nothing to sink your jaws with. I didn't offer to be a stowaway, did I? You should grab a good deal, while it lasts, captain."

The man- Jack- those posters called him, gave him a once over and smirked in appreciation. "You've got spunk, kid. Welcome aboard."

Tsunayoshi booked one of the bar's rental rooms to move his stuff in. His room was kind of bereft of items, but it had 3 suitcases in it. Two of them were tiny; one contained a mortar, some herbs, and some medicine bottles; the other contained 7 tiny pacifiers that the pharmacist intended on passing on to his chosen candidates via special missions. The last suitcase contained a couple of clothes and some snacks and beer bottles, courtesy of last night.

The brunette intended on keeping the pacifiers all for himself, even if it meant he had to be the one to satiate its greed. It was for two reasons, one was because he didn't want to give them away since it was his. The other was because he would collect a lot of grudges with each batch of these, and he prioritized his safety.

Jack waltzed into the room and saw the pacifiers and jeered at him.

"Never pegged you for a momma's boy, you even kept them in a case!"

"Oh, go suck on it."

"Don't mind if I do." The man moved an picked up an indigo pacifier, his eyes curved upwards as they taunted him. The pacifier, on the other hand, felt compatibility for the first time after being fed secondhand sky flames from the selfish little kid. It wrapped its indigo tendrils around his wrist. "Huh. Never thought that you'd be indulging in witchcraft."

Tsuna played along "If you know you're dealing with a witch doctor, you might want to back off right now."

"Or what? You'll stab my effigy with pins? Voodoo curse me into a chimaera?" he guffawed.

"Maybe I'd curse your lips to suck on that pacifier for life. Wonder how you'd deal with that, prince charming?" it was an empty threat, but the man chucked the pacifier at him with slight distaste. But then, he looked at it with a bit of intrigue; "If you're that fascinated with it, how does it fare to the real thing?" he hinted, making a sucking motion.

"Haven't you tried the real thing already?" the boy asked with distaste.

"But, is it better than the real thing?" to which the brunette bluffed, "You will not find the answer to that unless you become an actual toddler. Only they can appreciate true art.". Suckling on those might actually burn his lips away with how much they radiate energy. This captain might actually ask the ladies who fancy those radium lipsticks for a better source of information.

"You're yapping away like those feathery counts. 'Only those blessed souls can appreciate fine wine and fine art'. Thinks that being born with a silver spoon can give him a better taste. What art, what renaissance? The before n after looks the same ta me.

In fact, you wanna see what they can do if there was a renaissance?"

The boy's curiosity won over and he let himself get dragged along as the man sneaked into a bathhouse. He calmly pilfered the clothes and bags filled with jewellery and important documents. They were at the cloakroom which was right next to the jacuzzi.

"When they return with their birthday suits from their celebratory rebirth, I wonder if they'd truly like being their descent back at earth.

It wouldn't make sense if they could keep the stuff associated with their previous lives, would it? They need a clean start and a fresh slate, after all." He told the boy with a shark grin.

"It's holy, noblemen like them which makes life much easier for folks like me. It's even simpler than stealing candy from a baby." he said after pushing all the goods in a sack and finally lugging the brunette into his shoulder like a sandbag. The man then made his dashing escape.

The next morning, while he was clearing up the counter, he heard that a group of people decided to take a page from Archimedes. He thought that the captain taught them to wisen up, he even took their tuition fee in advance.

While he sang praises in his mind, the said captain was selling dreams to hapless drunks. Tsuna heard what the sailors translated the guy's speech into.

"There's an adventure lying await for you in the sea. Fate favours the brave and would lend you her magic to change your rags to riches.

There was no pain with no risk." and the man intended that to be their watery graves. People said that the sea was the source of life and since life was cyclic in nature, it didn't matter if it was life's sinkhole also, right?

When they reached shore, Jack was in a good mood. After all, there was more for him now that there was less competition.

But if there was one thing he regretted, it was the fact that the brunette was in charge of the dishes and the cleanup. A clumsy maid was a concept that was good in concept, but not so much in reality if it meant that they had to eat from the floors. Certainly not good if it meant that the decks would become swiss cheese and slowly turn their ship into the Titanic.

He was a captain that would not go down with his ship.

* * *

**Omake:**

Jack had convinced Tsuna to take advantage of his girlish looks to push him inside a brothel. The women were charmed and the brunette had turned into a tomato by the end of the night. It wasn't an exaggeration. The ladies demanded that he blush and act coy, so they painted his lips rouge and flushed his cheeks with a pink blush. They even painted his eyeshadows baby pink and made him wear a long red dress with red netted stockings.  
Before the captain wolf-whistled at the boy's transformation, the ungrateful brat, feeling that his skin felt itchy- rubbed all the makeup all over his face.  
The mascara had become greatly amplified and he looked like his face had been peeled by butchers and terrified both the captain and the clubs' patrons. He was certainly unforgettable, before and after that change. Unsurprisingly, they both had been promptly kicked out and the man realized that the child would not be a sight for sore eyes and not give him moola by pimping him out.  
To give him credit, the boy's skin was actually itchy- it developed rashes.

Jack looked at the boy disheartened and asked, "Well? Did you get anything out of that experience?"  
To which the brunette flaunted the treasure gifted to him, a small pile of kerchiefs laced with kisses and a corset or two; this loot, he would not share; much to the envy of the man who plotted this mess. Turns out, they did not share the same outlook on the loot's value- it was the boy's trash and the man's treasure.  
But still... the brunette wanted to hoard it.


	3. Simply One Hell of a Butler

**Chapter 3**

**Simply One Hell of a Butler**

Tsuna was demoted from the ship's crew members to a lost child the moment they landed shore. But at least it wasn't just him, the whole crew decided to spontaneously disband, especially since their captain abandoned ship the moment they reached Germany. They had learned with donning horror that the captain had ransacked the ship and claimed its ownership, going so far as changing it arbitrarily. The poor vassal was robbed in its maiden voyage- and was subsequently remodelled from a marine ship to that of a pirate ship.

If the french navy was around the port, they'd definitely aim straight at their foreheads if they realized what the barbarians did to her.

The crew scuttled out in such a hurry that you'd think that it would capsize at any moment, following Jack in his decision- in the now topsy turvy world where the cap' abandoned ship first.

Tsuna sighed in the streets, "I thought Jack didn't fly a jolly roger to fool the navy... Now that the guy made off with a hijacked ship, I dunno if I can get him to let me catch another ride... if I can find him first, that is."

He was waddling around to the general direction of the crowd when he saw a notice board with a bunch of notices asking for the same thing- Recruits for the Veckenschtein family. The newer ones were making the deal sweeter than the older ones.

'These guys must be pretty desperate for new hires... ' and his thoughts were validated when a person who saw him staring at the new poster ran towards him and said,

"Hey kid! You must be a traveller searching for a job right?" she said with fervour as she quickly judged him with his rags and strange outfit that didn't match their country's norms. "There ain't no job easier than what's right in front of you. Your eyes judged right! It's easy money. It's practically a crime if you pass up on this once in a lifetime opportunity! So, you'd **definitely **take it, won't you?!"

She was more ragged out with the sales pitch than a featherless, headless turkey. She gripped his hands tightly and didn't let him get a word in edge as she started dragging them towards the new destination.

The crowd gave the sad sucker a look of farewell.

"You're up for it?! That's just what I'd expect of you, you godsend sonny boy! I'm Olivia, by the way, and I'm your new employer- the head maid of the mansion you'll be a butler off!

The young master doesn't care for any of us, so you don't have to worry your pretty little bird's nest for any troubles. If you have any bit of common sense, you'd be right at home here- and you as the epitome of plain Jim will have no trouble, no siree! Hahahahaha."

Tsuna looked at how she was dragging him to his new workplace and thought, 'If you're going to lead me there one way or the other, couldn't you give me a piggyback ride -or at least a princess carry?'

When the two reached the mansion- an abandoned villa that looked as creepy as they made Victoria mansions in horror films these days. But when looking at the maids and the butlers who were callously hanging their underwear and other clothes over the balcony like it was nobody's business- he could truly understand what would happen to horror media if its actors couldn't read the mood.

There was a girl at the stakeout, who had a flashlight in her clutches. As Tsuna stared at her, ignoring the head maids' sales pitches, his wait was rewarded with the girl waving the light suddenly. It was followed by the languid maids and butlers aborting their sunbathing and other forms of relaxation and hiding immediately to create the ghost mansion along with that disquieting atmosphere in its full glory. He himself was tucked away(shoved into a nearby tree) as the head maid backed away into the shadows before resuming.

The boogeyman that they were scared off enough to play a flash game of red light and green light, was a teen who looked extremely moody. Appearance-wise, he looked slightly strange- he wasn't conventionally handsome - looking slightly like an elf or a goblin.

He instantly felt one of the Arcobaleno pacifiers he packed away pulse when his eyes followed the noble. It was the one which resonated in extreme- the one with his flame, the sky pacifier. It seems it was this person that the thing judged as his owner.

'Well, I am not going to reunite you with your long lost soulmate! You're going to be stuck with me.'

"Listen here kid, you see that guy. He's your master. But, you aren't to come near him, nor breathe his same air, nor stand in his shadow or even enter his field of vision.

He dislikes any form of company."

"How am I supposed to be his butler then? Butlers are to tend to every of the master's wishes and daily needs, right?"

"You do it when he's not in his room, like how tooth fairies take teeth and replace them with gifts, or Santa gives presents. They do it in secret without any notice.

It's a thankless job."

"If he hates any sign of presence, then wouldn't serving him, or having the proof that things have been taken care of make him even angrier?"

"Hush now, no need for any of that sophistry. Also, remember, not a single word of his appearance. It's a sore topic."

Tsuna looked aback at Kawahira's memories of Asian dynasties where the royalty and nobles had the ability to whack their servants and even take their lives if they endangered the noble's way of living or incurred their distaste. It would be safe to extend that logic here.

'fifty lashes or even beheading or even giving them silk cloth to take their own lives or even assassination huh? Guess I gotta be careful to cater to his every whim if I wanna avoid any hassle...'

The house itself was a bit strange. It's every room had an overhead lamp- in a mockery of chandeliers. It highlighted the centers and darkened corners.

'I thought it was the servants who had to walk in the shadows to avoid the sights of the young master.' but then he noticed how the master himself preferred the corners- honestly, it was like the entire lot of them were light fearing vampires.

'If we're all on the same page in hating and avoiding light, why can't we just turn them all off!?' in his exasperation, he switched off the lights of the rooms he was working in. Surprisingly enough, Bermuda started inching towards the rooms he was working in from then on- in a show of approval of his decision.

The maids and butlers approached him for that asking him, "Wasn't it scary in the dark? I heard that all you'd hear would be the breathing of the master. But you wouldn't even know where he'd be there right?! Why did you even turn off all the lights when you tried working?! When I saw you doing that at first, I thought I'd see you fired right then and there! I was so shocked that you're still my colleague."

Well, Tsuna didn't really talk that much and he didn't really need to breathe, so if he just tiptoed around the guy wouldn't even realize that he was present, so it was the same as not being present together at all, right?

'I never realized that if you caught his ire, you'd be torched... Looks like the witch hunt's ways are being adopted into the mainstream... Looks like Europeans have harsher punishments than Eastern nobility, huh?'

The other strange thing about the mansion was that the young master holed himself mostly in the library and that nobody from the family lived in the large house. The head butler and the maid busied themselves in maintaining the order and house hygiene.

Also, people from the house would go missing. It didn't matter how good they were at their job. But, it did matter if they were bad at their job because the master would stake at the place until someone replaced the monstrosity created from a clumsy worker.

'I can bet that the ones who go missing were the ones who got spotted by the master.' the brunette thought as he tagged the objects that looked particularly ugly, misshapen, or broken with tiny notes to try to prevent more of his colleagues that he had been making connections with, from disappearing.

'If the nobles are always fickle, regardless of their geographical location, then I need bonds with people working here to either bail me out or keep me informed on what's happening.' then his notes stack disappeared, only for pages to appear in other parts of the house.

'Huh, so someone else is trying to adopt my method. But, they could have just asked me to get some.'

* * *

Two months later, the whole mansion was shrouded in darkness- no, literally, since it seemed like the young master preferred the unlit house.

The head butler looked pretty pleased with himself, "Looks like Olivia nabbed herself a good one. We don't have to forcibly nab people to work for the master now! Hahaha...

What on earth did you pull, anyway? He seems rather fond of you."

"Huh? But we haven't even talked until now?"

"Maybe it's a camaraderie or brothership that got formed. That's quite great, to have a bond strong enough to not need any words, hoho~

But you don't have to pretend, lad. Don't you share notes-"

'What?! It was the young master who keeps stealing from his stash of post-its?!'

"Don't you both communicate over debates over the goods and artefacts, along with discussions regarding decor? I hear that they're quite detailed- going to topics over history, origin, and quality, to name a few."

'Was that what it was?! He saw some angry rants on how some of the decors weren't even the original. I thought that the young master was particular about authenticity and such so he wanted his surroundings in the best quality as possible. Wasn't that a note to the servants to take care of his complaints immediately?

I thought it made sense with the bourgeoise personality and high ego of the young master that he would only want the best... that's why I made critiques of other material too...' the brunette was getting paler with each twist that the butler was making.

"You don't have to look so pale. It's not like you're his hidden mistress. But if you were a lass, I'd prefer it if you were one...

That child looks awfully lonely, so it'd be nice if he made company, even if it's the form of a friend...

You must be quite considerate of his character. I finally see that there was another side to your actions of switching off all the lights... So that the young master doesn't have to hold back to indulge in your company." the butler's eyes glittered at him.

'_What?!_ That wasn't the servants?! I thought it was strange that I was _never alone in a room_, but that was because I thought everyone was to take care of rooms in groups...'

"I won't spurn you for trying to make friends with him. So, this time, you can be as friendly as you want with him.

He has invited you to a tea party."

'How am I supposed to be friends with a guy I thought never communicated with me until now.' the confused brunette was rushed off to his room to get dressed for the party.

When he reached the mansion's gazebo which was filled with nightshades, he looked slightly miffed at the sight of the plants used for poison, and he muttered,

"Well, if you're going to rear nightshades, you might as well go all the way and get oleanders, poison ivy, belladonna and wolf's bane..."

He saw the noble silently nod at that before he jotted down a request and placed it on the table. Tsuna sweatdropped at that.

The brunette feeling awkward at just standing there, reached for the chair- but paused when he heard a tsk.

"I hoped that two months here would ingrain basic etiquettes into your skull, but it seems like the head butler was just sitting around twiddling his thumbs."

'Ahhh... I knew that this whole thing was just the old guy's misunderstanding. Best leave before I make things even worse.'

But his hasty exit was blocked off by a cough, as the other coldly spoke, "Are you going to abandon your duties? Who shall serve me my tea?"

"Ah.. Ok. I'll be right there, young master." 'Wasn't this guy pretty self-sufficient last time I observed?'

When he poured over one cup's worth, the other looked at him imploringly. But seeing that the kid had no clue, he spoke irritatedly, "Surely you can't be expecting me to drink that? What if it's got poison?"

But when he saw the confused brunette reach for the tea, he clicked his tongue again and said, "That's my cup. Lay off."

Tsuna could only pour himself another cup, utterly bewildered by the situation. "So... how was it?"

"It's uh, not poisoned."

"Is that the most you could say about that tea? It looks like they can't even brew one drink properly."

"No, no. It's real swell. It's pretty mellow and makes you appreciate the scenario even better."

Strangely enough, it was a tea party of some sort.

"I want the library refreshed with new books. I'm tired of reading the same contents over and over again. But since those guys have no taste, you shall have to take it upon yourself to put ones that would be interesting to satisfy one's mind."

'Was... he asking me to suggest some good books to read?' "Sure..."

"Also, give me your name. I find it irritating that I have to waste so many words just to address you for getting my wishes attended to."

'Wait, did I not give my name to that maid and the butler? Well, damn, I guess I didn't. I thought that this routine would be temporary given how temperamental the house's lord was.'

"Right. My name's Tsunayoshi."

"Japanese? Have you gotten separated from your family in the bustle of the ship's docking?"

"Well, kinda. "

"I thought that would be the case, so I brought someone here familiar with the sea to get you back in touch with your lost ones."

"Bermuda~ Imma enter. I'm sick of waitin' 'round for yer special guest. He'd jus hafta get used to me mug... AH! It's **you!**" Jack looked at the brunette, utterly shocked

"Ah!? What're you doing here?! " he shrieked out before giving another shriek when he spotted a purple pacifier peeking from the captain's pouch.

'This guy must have pilfered it from me when I was cleaning up the ship's booze stack!' (To be fair, the pacifier was the least of what the brunette could have offered the other, given what the clean up did to that stash. The hardened pirate almost whined at the smashed bottles and the drenched floorboards from Tsuna's brash method of polishing bottles)

"What, if you knew my lackey, then it makes the story much simpler. I suppose the family you're looking for is this louch's?

Jack. You got to take responsibility for your flings."

The captain looked at the boy with bugged-out eyes, as Tsuna shuddered at the notion of the sorry excuse of a man becoming his father figure, let alone actual blood relatives.

* * *

**Omake 1:**

Bermuda looked at the pacifiers lying in front of him when he entered the brunette's room in search for the wayward kid. Said kid left the empty carton just to verify that the contraption was indeed stolen, before rushing to get his stuff back somehow (fyi, finders keepers, so Jack would have the suckling device).

He clicked his tongue at the prospect of the captain getting a gift(?), but given the two's friendship(?), he didn't get any gifts from the child.

So he casually took the orange pacifier and pocketed it.

After all, he deserved it more than his unfortunate acquaintance. Naturally, he wouldn't do anything as uncouth as hiding a present away.

When Tsuna returned to the mansion, he saw Bermuda wearing the pacifier around a classy chain. The butlers and maids looked at him like he was the one with the really bad taste of collecting and gifting baby sucklers to others.

Tsuna himself was in a dilemma of wondering if his contract and job as a butler would be compromised severely if he was to ask for the suckler back from his master- now that it was his possession- gift or not.

'I'd hate to think of the rumours those guys would conjure up if we were to get into a fight over the pacifier...'

Jack himself childishly squabbled over the ownership when he saw that Bermuda was allowed to keep it, but _he _apparently had to give it back to the brunette.

'They're honestly worse than kids' Tsuna exasperatedly thought, feeling like a mother- despite being a child of the opposite gender.

* * *

**Omake 2:**

Bermuda tagged along to Tsuna's bartending side job when he found about it. He certainly wasn't quiet about it.

"It certainly makes me wonder why you would work amongst these drunkards with all the noise they make. I'm sure we don't pay so poorly that our employees have to suffer like this."

The captain was taking full advantage of the brunette's position as a bartender to get as many free drinks as he could. He was drunkenly singing out of tune in another corner of the bar. Tsuna predicted that in five minutes, the captain would get into a bar fight with the ticked off patron near him.

"The bar's a great source of information. Besides, you wouldn't appreciate it fully until you become an adult. I'm sure cap'n over there would agree."

'They tip good and sing out some really good stuff when they're drunk as a bat.'

"What do you mean? You know of my stature, what would they dare not serve me?"

"Well... I do know what they'd serve you, if not anythin else." he said smiling teasingly as he poured out a glass of milk for the noble.

The other looked slightly shell shocked at the drink in front of him, before glaring at him.

"What? It's white- pure and innocent as a kid. It suits you to a T. It'll even help you get taller and stronger enough to have the good stuff." he snickered.

Just then, a table clamoured as it flipped over as the patron's fuse popped as he tried to stuff the nuisance up. Said nuisance took the opportunity to rob the other blind, before socking him. He then proceeded to make the guy into a seat as he attempted to woo the man's companions.

Bermuda raised an eyebrow as he got shot down, gesturing at what good the good stuff brought him.

Tsuna shrugged his shoulders. 'You shouldn't be asking me. I'm as underaged as you are, but they're the ones ordering a drink and paying the bills from someone who hasn't even tasted the stuff...'


	4. Journey to the 'God Blessed Country'

**Chapter 4**

**Journey to the 'God Blessed Country'**

When the two gaped at each other with mouths so wide that flys would do eights around them (is that a form of indirect kisses?), Bermuda introduced the adult to the brunette, just to honour courtesy.

"You see, we're a sort of business partners-"

"Right, so the kid here guards my ship fer me and I get ta use some of his resources to do some trades and treasure hunts without needin ta pay him back if they break... during those missions.

We have commission rates n all.

It's always a pleasure doin business with ya, young master~" the cap'n snickered out.

Meanwhile, Tsuna looked even more shocked at the news.

'You mean this guy, _this guy, _who puts tabs on tabs in bars with enough promises to rival that of what the mayors give out;_ The guy_ who makes the lady in the date, seem like a sugar daddy- and not even having the decency to even go dutch...

The guy who steals from even beggers or any pocket in sight- the molester of every wallet(they must have even filed cases against him!), the idiot who hoards all the treasure in a pirate trip and doesn't pay up for any bet lost...

Is actually filthy rich?! He'd always acted like a filthy rat, so I thought that was why we were kinda friends...'

"At this rate, Ebenezer Scrouge's ghost along with the three Christmas spirits (ghostception...?) will haunt your guts, Jack..." Tsuna solemnly advised the manchild.

"You think I cud teach em some new tricks? Like, I dunno, sic em at them old folks? I can get a pretty penny or two by playin' exorcist."

"He's a lost cause, Tsunayoshi. You'd best focus your efforts elsewhere if you want any fruits of labour.

We will get to the heart of the matter later. It's rather boorish to continue to only talk about work.

...Care for a game of chess?"

_Fast forward a couple of hours later,_

Tsuna sat on a throne half a yard away from the young master of the house as the servants in the house wore chess piece outfits. They were rather efficient and malleable to requests, given how quickly they responded to the whims and fancies of the oddball of a lord.

Just to clarify, Bermuda wasn't the one to propose this rather flamboyant way of playing chess- no, it was Tsuna's fault.

'I just told him that with how clumsy I am usually, those tiny pieces in that checkerboard are going to fly into either of our eyes...

Well, it wasn't like I could tell him that I didn't know how to play when he conjured up this _board_ just after his suggestion.

Just why did it have to come to this...?'

Jack was examining the board while whispering suggestions to the lost child. He was being surprisingly nice about this.

Tsuna looked distractedly at the shivering maid who was attending to him for the game.

'Oh. she must be the newest hire... Guess she's stiffened to silence from the rumours surrounding the house.

Actually, judging by the way the head butler and maid hire newbies, we should have the reputation of saints...

But then the people just have to gossip. "The two are always targetting widowed mothers, orphans, and those who have lost everything! They say that once you step in that house, there's no coming back!"

The people who get hired here have pretty much no reason to go out with how sudden or demanding the house's lord could be sometimes. Also, their rooms and living conditions are pretty posh as compared to living elsewhere...'

In fact, somewhere in between the two months since the mansion adopted the new policy, a few curious locals wandered near the pitch black territory from rumours of the mass murder of the residents followed by the suicide of the insane young master. It just so happened that the one who attended the door was a rather clumsy maid who was drenched in tomatoes from a kitchen fiasco... You can guess what happened next.

'Necromancy? Really? Well, at least this one is partially right since they've hired a zombie for a butler...'

He felt pretty sorry for the new maid, so he gave her few words of encouragement,

"Don't you worry, miss. You'll become a part of us in no time- our ties go deeper than family!

We'll be together even in death! You'll never go lonely and you'll never want to go back!"

She paled even further. 'Huh? I wonder what's wrong?'

Just then, Bermuda's clear voice echoed out, "Checkmate." and there went the last of the new lass's nerves. A maid discreetly moved over to her to pour some smelling salts over her fainted body, muttering "I swear the youngins get spooked by their own shadow these days... Getting scared of the kid who ran from chicken duty... Can't even call him a chicken... Probably doesn't even taste like one..."

Tsuna resented that sentiment, 'If you saw how those birds tried to use guerrilla war tactics against me, you'd be singing a whole different tune.'

Then the brunette glimpsed at the captain, wondering what his reaction would be- and spotted malicious smiles between the captain and the young master.

'These guys planned the whole thing! Why?! I don't even know the rules of the game!'

The chessboard had the white king move in a beeline towards the enemy king and was obediently surrounded by the knight, rook, bishop, and the queen- definitely in a dire situation. The other white pieces were sitting ducks.

However, the pain of seeing such a play was only felt to such a bone-deep extent by the spectators and the pieces themselves. How many times had the white pieces felt like facepalming with every instruction that puppet-Tsuna spoke?

Shame...

Tsuna, however, was blissfully ignorant of the massacre that would have happened if he was in charge of the white kingdom in a real war.

* * *

The brunette approached the childish lord, motioning him towards the kettle while the other was basking in the glory of victory. While the young lord was gloating, the cap'n who double-crossed him in a moment's breath was counting money leisurely.

"I'm planning on extending the influence of the Veckenschtein and my power with my next trip. Jack and you are coming along.

Oh, I know. How about you play darts on where we should go next?"

It seemed like the stage was set for him with a dartboard of a map and darts. There was even a blindfold for the brunette to wear if he wanted to let fate decide.

But as if his hands had a mind of their own, they picked a dart up and aimed straight at a particular spot- and released it in a smooth and graceful movement.

The dart flew straight into America.

"How interesting. To think that you aimed there. I have an acquaintance there who's quite sharp, for all that life had put him through.

He came out scarred from the experience, but thanks to that, the blind locals over there couldn't put him through the wringer for every decision he could make from then.

It was truly fortunate for him that I found that type of spectacle annoying."

"You say that as if it was you who put the bullet in the idiot's skull."

"The shot was under my orders. It may as well be done by my very hands.

Besides, don't tell me that you found that order displeasing."

"The guy's whip nicked me, so it helped me get even with him.

I don't get what you have against noisy people."

Bermuda looked at the confused expression of the brunette and gave him a brief.

"You could say, I 'freed' him to let him go on a rampage over there.

They don't know what hit them." he said, smiling darkly.

When the trio reached the destination after a gruelling week with plenty of ship hands (hired by Bermuda who wanted everything to be perfect), a blemish appeared in their plan when it was Tsuna who strayed from the group- the poor, lost sheep.

'Those two are hopeless. They got lost as soon as they set foot here. What would they do without me?' The exasperated brunette glanced around the area, hearing tinkering of machines as people hustled and bustled around.

Just then, a couple of policemen walked near him as they spoke in a satisfied tone, "It's all in a day's work. We've caught that skirt chaser. Did you hear him? He said that he'd dual him over for that girl? What age was he living in?

Well... win or lose, that guy would be getting money from the bets that the crowd made. Have you seen scum like that?"

Tsuna's eyes widened as the person who they were talking about manifested in his mind.

'What?! Jack got arrested?! That's bad. I gotta rescue him, pronto.'

The panicked kid went straight to the police and slapped one right across the cheek and said, "Let's see if you can arrest me! Try it if you dare!"

The one slapped got into a rage, while the other tried to reason with the assaulter, "Kid, I understand that times are tough, but jail's not gonna be a great alternative to find a free room to stay with food as a package deal." he spoke with the weariness of a person who had to deal with so many idiots who thought that this kind of thing was a bright idea.

If there was a will, there was definitely a way! Tsuna did not lose hope.

Thus, Tsuna decided to follow the steps of Robin hood and sneaked into a rich-looking house with the subtlety of an ox in a china shop. The police were called, and they became his matador and willingly apprehended him this time.

(If things actually went smoothly, the goods would have been stashed in the poorest and most vulnerable of souls. They'd be the immediate suspects and screwed to hell and beyond. Why was Robin hood ever a good idea? How could you even exchange such expensive stolen goods for their price without making the owners track the sellers down?)

* * *

**Omake 1:**

The maids and butlers lit the halls, now that the master left the house on a trip. That boy made wonders and miracles happen.

When the light came on, they cheered and rejoiced for a moment, before their eyes burned in such brightness.

They shrivelled into themselves as they shrieked like vampires- and immediately switched everything off. Habit is truly a scary thing.

To the outsiders who saw the whole house flashlight before turning dark- like lightning, got even more riled up from the scare.

'They must finally be experimenting with reanimation, those damned souls!'

* * *

**Omake 2:**

Jack walked near a house that had a sack of ornaments lying around and casually claimed it for himself.

"That child must be so foolish to attempt to rob the lord in broad daylight. Perhaps, he was truly desperate- that poor child.

The Japanese can be quite crazy- abandoning their child. What were they thinking?"

'What I don't hear, I don't know' the man hummed to himself as he made his merry way to find some more good loot. He'd savour the freedom he won by volunteering to find the brunette.

Meanwhile, Bermuda rejected the urge to groan as he pieced what happened. He's set an idiot loose in search for a nut who decided to get himself arrested to find the idiot. What a magnificent goose chase!


	5. The initiation of the Mafia police

Thanks for the review ^^

Welcome back to the story, peeps. Lemme know what you think of the story.

Hope you like it and let's get right on to it, shall we?

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**The initiation of the Mafia police: Vendice**

Tsuna side-eyed his fellow inmate who was snoring in yet a different pose, wondering just how can someone sleep out of boredom in this place.

'Can't this guy sleep in peace? If he died, I doubt he'd even rest in peace. This guy'd definitely be a zombie who'd chase people to make them act them as sheep jumping fences to get himself to sleep.' his eyebrows twitched in annoyance at the insomniac who wanted to become a narcoleptic.

There was another prisoner who played tunes on his harmonica to set the mood for the place, to help clarify the doubts of anyone who didn't know that they were, in fact, in a prison.

'This guy plays like chalk piece screeching against blackboards. How do you mess up that bad on a harmonica?'

That 'musician's' cellmate looked at his partner like a proud parent. 'You mean that this guy developed his skills in leaps and bounds?!'

"Psst... Neighbour. What did that guy do to get himself in here?"

"...My name's James. Remember it already. That guy? He was playing the music for a family's funeral-"

He looked at the aghast look that the brunette sported, and added on, "Don't judge him yet. He told me that his true calling was with the harmonica... Nothing else worked out with him."

Yeah, that didn't make things any better.

"Give the guy a break. He was a con artist who masqueraded around as a musician. He got caught in that ceremony."

"Why did they never catch up to that guise yet?!"

"They thought that it was a new form of art... You know that reconnaissance is hip right now, right?" the guy got tired of explaining stuff to him and handed over his stolen mug to the brunette.

"Use this, Tsunayoshi, to override that noise."

This idea was a bad one. The 'musician' thought that they were jamming, and proceeded to make a louder racket.

Their session was abruptly stopped as the trio noticed the fearful glances that the others gave them when a particularly intimidating prisoner glared at them. The other, large and scarred body, stood still in their direction. His bald head made him look like a movie villain. He was nicknamed Big Pino.

Tsuna looked slightly irritated by the cowed looks that they all sported. James went back to feigning sleep.

'If they'd just pay attention to the big guy, instead of freaking out like this...'

Turns out, that the guy had a habit of sleeping with his eyes open. But, the brunette had noticed that he pretty much snored his way through grumbles and growls. This pretty much intimidated the prisoners.

In fact, the guy also intimidated the jailors. That was because of his neighbour- Small Gia.

Their cell was pretty lavish, a sign that the two were hotshots that the warden was pandering to. More like, most of the cell was lavish- the part that was small Gia's. big Pino's side was as dirt poor as the rest of them.

The prisoners thought that the guy preferred to live in such crude conditions, but Tsuna felt that the little guy thought of the other as his big guard dog.

There was a story to this.

Tsuna looked at the warden that patrolled their cells, before looking longingly at the stuff inside the place. He then turned tail and reluctantly returned back to his room.

'The little guy must have stolen his stuff and the warden couldn't go and retrieve the things the duo made their own.

Well, that old man's scared stiff from the big dude. And then... he couldn't reveal the stuff and clear the misunderstandings with the jailors.

He couldn't admit to them that he was afraid of the giant who needed elephant tranquillizers that only worked for an hour during which they had to ship them into that room.'

The jailors gossiped enough for him to get enough clues to piece together the prison's situation.

He stared at the jailors who were clumsily trying to play violin pieces to cater to the requests of small Jia. The musician was tsk-ing at their play when the two were far better than he could ever be.

"I saw that the old man got a bear rug skinned from his latest game. Go get it for me." Gia casually ordered them.

Later in the afternoon, Tsuna spotted the warden stare at that cell with tears in his eyes. 'Man, those two don't even have to steal what they want anymore. It's even easier than stealing candy from a baby...'

In the cafeteria, about an hour later, the brunette spotted Pino head over to him mumbling "piu piu piu".

The teen looked at the grown man as if he was the next successor to Pacman and simply stared at the spectacle. The rest of the prisoners tore off from the line like they were the ghosts when Pacman ate the magical seeds.

'Lucky! There's no one in front of me anymore.'

But when he helped himself to food because the caterer was shivering and not doing his job, the giant stacked mountains from the remaining available food.

It seems like going to prison would be the best way to diet to get those killer waists that women aimed for nowadays.

The guy then proceeded to turn around and stare at the tiny plate of food the brunette helped himself to. There was never too much food to eat.

The other definitely wanted to eat everything that the world could offer. But, Tsuna crushed that dream of his by nonchalantly eating his grub, ignoring the starved look that the big guy sported when it would fit better on the rest of the guys' faces.

When he saw that the guy's hungry gaze turned from the food in the plate, to the brunette's face- as if he thought that he could have the food if he could consume the consumer too... Tsuna handed over the plate to the other obediently.

'I'd rather this be his next meal than me.' and he abandoned his meal to the dogs. If it was granted life, it would definitely seek revenge on the other.

But either way, Tsuna would tell it that in this world it was 'eat or be eaten!'.

The giant's eyes sparkled at the kind gesture, and Tsuna had the vague feeling of taming a dog (one more would be fond of him, way later on).

* * *

Late at night, Tsuna's cell was opened as the jailors came up to him and patted his shoulders in comfort. They proceeded to drag him out like he was in for a death sentence and shoved him into the cell of the infamous duo.

"So you're the kid that this guy took a shine on, eh?" Jia peered at him, as he gave the brunette a once over. Pino nodded his head vigorously as he inched excitedly towards the brunette.

Tsuna looked at the other's huge figure and wondered, 'If he put his mind to it, could he swallow me whole like a python? Would that be warm? I don't want to light a campfire here, but the nights are cold...'

"I don't mind letting ya join us, but ya gotta give us something to show yer gratefulness for the opportunity."

When Tsuna tried to search for something in his person to give as a gift, Gia interrupted him by saying, "I'm not gonna take what _you_ think would make a great gift fer me. Imma choose what I like from what you got. What...? Got any problems wit that?" he asked, his eyes glinting in dark mischief.

The jailors brought the tiny suitcase that the teen carried around with him and opened it to show the pacifiers to the two. Gia snorted amusedly before moving his fingers to the pacifier that drew him the closest, the storm pacifier- while tossing the lightning one to Pino.

Tsuna realized that this may be how dads might have felt seeing their daughters rebelliously choosing a delinquent to elope with. 'Papa does not approve!'

Seeing the disgruntled look on the former's face, Jia smirked in satisfaction and pocketed the pacifier. Pino followed in his footsteps.

"You need a better hobby, buddy ol' pal~" Pino agreed with the shortie after deciding that the pacifier didn't particularly taste good.

'And now they're criticizing my daughters! You didn't have to steal them away from me in the first place then!'

"What's wit that look? There's no take-backs and refunds with gifts, ya know?"

Tsuna did the only thing he could do and brought out the mug that James gave him and started the jam/racket with the bars. Small Gia's words were drowned out in the noise that followed and his eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

The next day, the warden gave Tsuna a stink eye as he brought an electric guitar to small Jia who impatiently tore at the wrappers and started a number. The amplifiers connected to the guitar, like its name implied, amplified the sound and broke all the glasses that were in the warden's office.

Once finished, Jia smiled playfully at Tsuna, as he taunted the other to just try to pull what he tried the other night.

This time, it wasn't Tsuna who responded to the provocation. The musician egged on by the spirits and _the sound of music, _played his newest piece and spurred Gia on.

The prison was flooded with the bad chemistry filled wooing of a dying harmonica and the electric guitar. And people wondered why Shakespeare's famous play tried to separate the star crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet...

Tsuna would feed both of them poison if it meant that it'd bring some peace to the place.

Moans erupted from the place, as the prison got a worse reputation for torturing its prisoners to no end. Some said that it was the ghosts of the late prisoners who haunted the premises to take revenge on the cruel jailors.

Thus, the warden tried to get rid of all his nuisances in one fell sweep.

Bermuda stared at the jittery, shady old man in front of him who tried striking a deal with him.

"How about it, Veckenschtein-sama? We're trying to extend the influence of our branch in Italia- to create an independent force for reigning in and judging crime.

All you have to do is use your influence and power to build upon our base over there. I'd even give you some reliable force from our quarters to aid you on your endeavours- of course, this includes the child that got arrested a few days ago."

Bermuda felt that this was a way that this guy could get rid of any nuisances that bothered him, but it worked for him.

'After all, how bad could they be?

...Well, I would not be the one to manage them anyway.' the noble thought as he glanced at Jaegar- the latest addition to the prison- the proxy who would inherit all duties as he shoved it all towards him.

* * *

**Omake 1:**

There were many incidents that earned small Gia the fearsome reputation he had in the prison.

One was when the warden got himself a globe, only for it to be in flames two hours later.

Some people just want to see the world burn.

Another was when the warden decided to bring in hounds that may as well be from hell to the prison to quieten the more _rowdy_ ones from prison.

The man cackled as he ordered them to 'sic' em at small Gia.

This was a bad decision. The jailors had to seek refuge from the place from the hounds soon after, since Gia magnificently tamed them to rip into any guard that dare took a break in the premise. Things went south when he opened the cell doors only to allow the dogs access to the prisoners in them cells.

Despite all the sh*t that small Gia brought the rest, his presence was one to be fearfully revered.

After all, the hounds incident made them feel like the tiny guy was a beast tamer- one that tamed big Pino into being relatively harmless.

The warden shuddered as he locked his sight into the marble like eyes of the giant that swirled in madness. He was _fine _with being Gia's butler, if he'd be spared from the dragon's claws.

* * *

Omake** 2:**

Jaegar looked at how nimbly Jack manoeuvred himself around the trainwreck of a ship right near to theirs. Bermuda decided to sleep in peace while Tsuna gazed at the captain's movements in awe.

He picked up loot after loot in the fragile balance that kept it afloat as many of its parts defied gravity. He swung from broken mast to broken mast and climbed over ropes near ship quarters.

Small Gia was throwing broken wood pieces like daggers to a dartboard, with the latter as Jack. He was snickering as he landed close calls, while Jack shook off all attempts with ease as his eyes were focused on the prizes.

'Is it that Sea disowned him that it wouldn't let him die here? Or is it simply that he's got the devil's luck?

It surely can't be that he's got Neptune's blessings and is akin to the child of the Sea right?'

If Bermuda heard his thoughts, he'd tie Jack up in ropes and make him walk the plank, to make him the next Davy Jones- just to prove a point. He wouldn't mind losing an idiot, instead of letting his loyal subordinate glorify the idiot into heavens and beyond.

That idiot had enough of a swollen head as it is. Does Jaegar want to create the first human hot air balloon?


	6. Italia: The beginning of the Vindice

Hey there, I'm back to this fic. Missed me?  
lol, onwards we go. I'm going to check up for grammar with the last entries of this fic. It's got no betas, so I can only notice if it's badly written if I get better at writing I guess.  
Hope you enjoy the story.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Italia: The beginning of the Vendice**

The ship docked on the shores of Italy. Jaegar stood by the lounging Bermuda, serving him as a loyal retainer apparently completely won over by his charisma and noble nature, while the lanky man had no intentions of budging from the comfy sofa. Jack on the other hand was giving the option of being fish bait during their next travels or making like a bee and buzzing off. It was impressive how he had the gall to do that despite being outnumbered.

"Why do people join ya if this is the ultimatum ya give them in the end?" small Gia asked confusedly as he observed the chaos that instantly erupted.

"The smart ones filch gold for themselves durin' the adventures. I don' mind that kinda guys at all. My regulars kno not to join me when it's jus travellin from place to place. They're jus ferryin us 'round. I don' wanna pay up for that. It's no fun.

Now, when they're fresh bait that think they can measure up to me- now, that's when things get interesting." The cheat spoke in a merry tone as he took care of the last courageous fellow as he stockpiled the lads.

"It's not even like you're broke…" Tsuna muttered. "You're not even a miser…" he said remembering the way he gave two pouches of gold to a lady saying that if she stuffed them right, she'd make a killing before getting slapped hard. The guy even melted rubies to prank a merchant into thinking he was drinking wine…

"Wait- by fish bait, do ya mean that the meat stored in the pantry are those guys." Gia squawked as his face paled in disgust.

"Man, even I wouldn't stoop so low. Bodies rot quickly and preserving em after stripping the good meat is too much work- not to mention how little meat's actually useful-"

Wait, that was your reason?!

"It's more profitable to strip em of their clothes and jewellery and hand em to the authorities to reap their wanted poster rewards."

They were criminals?!

"I can even wring more money outta em if I jus keep em living while taking their blood in bags n organs that won't kill em off. Blood letting's popular with some of the aristocrats and there're some sick fucks who want to look deep into those organs- who knows, maybe they're gifts- I ain't judgin'.

They're great suckers. There're so many ways to make a buck or two off em, but they sell themselves short."

"How do you remain in debt even if you extort them like this?" the brunette asked confused.

"They're jus my piggy bank. They haven't received a single doubloon from me so far."

"I suddenly understand why your bounty is high up there.

…Well at least you weren't serious about them being fish bait."

"Huh? No? If they lost a hand or two during the scuffle, they'd make great bait for the big fish in the sea. They can farm maggots and moss for the small ones too."

The storm looked relieved at the reassurance while Tsuna looked very disgruntled.

Jack started to unfurl the sails while checking for any damage in the hull and the rudder. Seeing the other dock the ship for travelling on the land, Bermuda said,

"Don't land the ship. It can still sail."

Jack asked bewildered, "But we're already in Italy. Don't tell me that the destination's wrong."

"There's the grand canal and routes through the waterways in Venice. There's no reason to go on foot."

The hikikomori claimed that the huge ship could travel through the narrow pathways in one piece. Jack looked appalled at the notion of sending such a beauty through a suicide mission.

"Isn't it too narrow for the job? I think we'd be in a standstill between the other boats." Tsuna asked.

"Pssh, that's easy. Big Pino'll crush them all. We've got cannonballs."

"Gia, do collect them. Even if they would be damp, they will make great firewood for my quarters."

"You guys don' get it all. First of all, have you seen the canoe that go in that path? It's real tiny. She ain't gonna cut it. You're treatin' my bae as a wagon. She can't chauffeur you everywhere.

Second of all, the cannonballs are on the sides. It ain't gonna take care of the roadblocks in the front or the back. We'd be sittin' ducks.

Finally, Don't light fires inside the ship!" Jack graciously explained with a severe expression, akin to a teacher.

"What difference does it make if the cannonballs are on the front or the side? Tho it's a mercy to let em live for blocking my way, it won't be so narrow if the walls blow up.

Big Pino'll be plenty for a canon sub." Small Gia said with an eyebrow raised up.

"You made your ship fly, you'll satisfy Bermuda-sama's wishes." Jaegar taciturn voice evoked.

"If yer going to put yer lot in rumours, ya outta search for the fire under that smoke.

That was a miss on my part. Who'da thought that waterfall was right ahead?

It did a number on my ship, both on the hull and the masts fer forcing her to float."

Jaegar only took that as confirmation. Jack ruffled his hair in frustration.

"Look, it's a miracle because it occurs only once.

Besides, your young master just doesn't want the sun and wants to be paraded around, right? Jus take a page from Pino. Here, I'll give you costumes to get some shade." He shuffled around the quarters before coming back with masks and cloaks.

"_So_ sorry, but I ain't got no parasols." He said sarcastically. He handed them what looked like a bird mask and a top hat.

"No thanks. I'll go ahead and scout." Tsuna immediately refused when he recognized what it was. It was definitely not going to let him move around smoothly.

"It looks stuffy. No way. Tsuna, we're going ahead." Small Gia said with his nose scrunched up. Big Pino smoothly ignored it as his gaze followed Gia's line of sight as he jumped out of the ship with a huge bang. The brunette huffed a sigh as he brought his suitcase with the remaining pacifiers. It was a

Bermuda acquiesced as he wore the costume. Jaegar followed up his motions.

"You guys are so picky." The cloud complained.

"You should have heed by my words. You will take over the issue of regrouping." Bermuda commented and it donned upon Jack. But it was too late for regrets, for they had already split up.

Jaegar arranged for an automobile to chauffer Bermuda around the city, leaving Jack stranded behind with the ship. A passing merchant looked at the deserted ship and he immediately put up a sorry look as he said, "It was a mutiny.". On seeing the look of compassion offered in return, the 'poor' captain smiled internally.

While the vehicle was classy, Bermuda wasn't impressed by the level of comfort.

"Shall I get a carriage ready?"

"Get me a room in a hotel. Do the necessary investigation to get a grasp of the current situation in the city. Hire ears, mouths, and eyes. We need to know who the major players are here.

If you see Pino and Gia, tell them to make themselves useful. Setting a mansion or two on fire as a by-product of vandalism from a stray gang war would not be too conspicuous.

I trust that you would not let me down this time around, Jaegar. You were sent right back from your latest mission to spy on that prison."

Jaegar bowed knelt near the teen as he kissed his ring to show his loyalty.

Eyes full of discomfort and fear fell on their figures whenever they appeared on the street. Bermuda lamented how people spurred his existence wherever he travelled.

'Why have plague doctors come here?! I've heard the news mention a village they had visited for collecting bodies to _save _people from suffering from the black death. But has it finally reached here too?!'

'Please, even if it is for the greater good, do not desecrate the bodies…'

'Why do they were such ominous costumes? It's like they're declaring that saving their patients is against fate and what is natural.'

When they reached the site the noble's would be temporary abode, Bermuda's eyes glinted as he said, "Jack cleaned up all of the prison's prying eyes. Check if the clean-up was taken care of perfectly. I will introduce you formally to my personal attendant later. It won't do for him to remain blind to the Veckenschtein family's influence.

He will serve as my eyes to see through whether those two follow my orders. Make sure that they understand that what you convey will be as if I am speaking there myself."

The Italian Mafia had a stronghold over the police. They were a stain that stood out blatantly despite the efforts of the law and justice system. It was because they were convenient to the upper echelons.

The sky's family held ties both underground and overground, with the opposing sides acting ignorant of such a bond. It was because they played the mediator, keeping things in check. Bermuda's activities, in particular, strengthened their position, despite his reluctance to participate in person. He was never fond of outdoor activities. It was just that night was preferable if he must. Thus, Jaegar took up the role of his shadow to complement him and complete his boss's visions.

Tsuna only decided to move separately to avoid becoming a plague doctor and being part of a cult that apparently 'heal' poor lambs sent for slaughter. He intended on searching a better container for the remaining pacifiers, especially if the people around him pilfered them as they pleased. There were only three left! It was less than half of the original amount.

Gia immediately hopped on a canoe as Pino put the brunette on his bag like a bean bag. The suitcase dangled in the air as he clutched the handle. The punk immediately hijacked a boat as he randomly shot at the narrow walls with a huge canon that Pino carried around.

"These walls can't hold me down. The way forward will open up for this Gia."

The _Venice Bridge_ was falling down, falling down…

The beautiful engravings on the architecture of the structures were utterly ruined as they were now merely rubble. The houses nearby started collapsing from the lack of foundation as they started slipping into the clear waters, making it murky.

The enraged public was slowly increasing as will o wisps in the form of torches along with pitchforks appeared as the peasants who were overtaxed under the strict hierarchy of class had their troubles increased even further.

Due to the landslide, some people in the crowd slipped down, falling right into the water. Hands reached to the boat hauntingly as a clear grudge was visible on those countless faces. Gio only snorted as he shoved the oar right in, playing whack the mole as he sunk each and everybody that tried to come up the surface to breathe. Then a cart carrying bodies, supposedly the rider being a grave keeper, fell right into the cesspool and the spilled blood turned the water surface crimson. Gia cackled menacingly while Pino joined in, looking quite clueless.

Tsuna could only look on in morbid fascination at the scene that came from hell itself manifested right in front of him. This guy definitely belonged in that prison. It was either him being the headache of those inside or those outside…

* * *

Jaegar couldn't decide if it counted as clean-up if Jack framed the American prison affiliated personnel as wanted criminals by insulting the artists who drew the posters for the lack of resemblance.  
"Do you intend to abet the actual criminals into lending favors for your bestowed grace?"  
"What? No! If they show up, I'll tell the police 'ere that they did a sloppy job locking em up in."  
"What about the one they marked off as dead?"  
"I'll tell them that their officers were bribed by an acquaintance of mine. They should let off the guys that fell for it. Isn't that nice of me? Who needs such idiots?"  
"You haven't tied the threads on the prison's side."  
"They're the magnificent crew that led us safely to Italy in a sudden storm, even at the cost of their own lives."  
The man quietly nodded. He then said,

"The hidden cuts of your operation margins are your un-defaultable debts."  
"Aww, is he not willin to turn his eyes away anymore? But I won't be paying~ It's been fun until now-"  
"Your complete loyalty and obedience is the price for his continuing mercy."  
"WOOF."  
"You passed the evaluation."

He looked at the ship in front of him as he lithely moved forward and whipped a chain that circled around his waist like a belt onto the ship.

The huge vassal broke into two at the sheer force exerted. Jack looked flabbergasted as the ship he spent effort protecting from the canal travel ended up in a sorry state.

"Bermuda-sama's grace for your fondness for the ship was wasted on you."

"You're kidding?! If he meant that many things when he said we should use the ship to travel around the city, it'd be great if elaborated on it more...

How am I supposed to know that he meant using this for keeping those lost cases together or that it was going to be my last ride...

Wait am I still supposed to gather them together?"

"Do your mission."

"Wait. What was this all for then?!"

* * *

Omake 1:  
Bermuda's room was knocked upon many times by unsuspecting visitors or the receptionist who kept forgetting about his existence due to the silence and the darkness the room was kept in.  
"Your service is lacking. It is a waste to pride yourself on your establishment." Bermuda complained as the hotel's head came to personally apologize for the lack of room service.  
"E-excuse me, honorable guest. Is there a problem with the electricity."  
"Do you have problems with my preferences? I require peace and silence.  
You have let me down again and again."  
'Just my luck to have a literal ghost check-in.'  
That day, the hotel's previous reputation dipped to a new low as it began to be noted as a famous haunt.

Omake 2:  
Tsuna tried to remedy the situation as quickly as possible.  
"There's no challenge in it to sink a drowning man."  
"Che. Then I'm going to hunt one of the big wigs. Pino, find the biggest building here."  
"What? Why?"  
"Isn't it obvious? The more powerful they are, the taller the building they like becomes.  
It's great for pullin' em into the mud from their view up there, lookin at us with a nose in the air."  
Jaegar came later on and got instantly impressed by Tsuna's apparent telepathic communication with Bermuda.


End file.
